Noodle Lab

Noodle Lab is a Melbourne CBD restaurant that challenges what we think of this cuisine. The menu is playful and inventive, whilst in turn paying homage to familiar Asian recipes and ingredients. The locally sourced, seasonal dishes are all about letting the food lover experiment with different combinations of classic and new flavours to enhance the experience and create a dish that’s personal to them. Dishes on the menu look familiar, but the team, led by Ryan Domingo, has taken some of the most popular recipes from Asia and added a twist, such as an unexpected fresh ingredient to make each dish sing. For example, Duck Mee or ‘Lab’s Special Duck’, a take on Chinese marinated duck but slow-cooked at a low temperature and partnered with a spicy red curry sauce and caramelised pineapple and grapes. Or the much-loved Chinese Mapo tofu dish served on noodles, rather than the predictable rice. Provenance is key, with the team sourcing locally and seasonally where possible - such as Warrnambool lamb, free-range chicken from La Ionica and prawns from Port Lincoln. Many of the accompanying sauces are made from scratch, such as the housemade XO chilli sauce, sambal and Domingo’s Noodle Lab Secret Soy Sauce. Noodle Lab challenges preconceptions of Noodles, taking influence from traditional dishes but with a fresh twist.